A Tunisian national has been extradited to the United States to face charges that he conspired to carry out a suicide bomb attack against Americans in Europe.

Nizar Trabelsi was arrested in Belgium on September 13, 2001, two days after the terror attacks in the U.S.

Washington has long sought his extradition, suspecting him of also being behind a more devastating Al-Qaida plot.

A federal indictment unsealed Thursday says the 43-year-old Trabelsi met in the spring of 2001 with al-Qaida leader Osama bin-Laden to volunteer for a suicide bomb attack against a military facility used by the U.S. government and U.S. Air Force.

If convicted of the charges, Trabelsi faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Trabelsi is a former professional soccer player who played for a German team in the 1980s.